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The Magicians In The Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in The Magicians [V]

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Jynnan tonnix

Jynnan tonnix

15 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

DO NOT PUT THAT EVIL OUT INTO THE UNIVERSE!!! 

Its so sad, there was a time when I would have been ecstatic to see this trailer and get a premier date for one of my favorite shows, but now...it just makes me sad knowing that a show I once loved has fallen victim, like so many TV/movies lately, to "angst angst angst omg we is so dark and edgy we can give you a haircut" syndrome. Not even having Elliot back at last makes me interested in seeing this. 

I'm still excited to see it come back. After the end of last season, I wasn't sure, but I think I'm willing to see where the show can go. Frankly, last season, without the "real" Eliot, was a bit of a tough slog at times, but I feel as though if Q were simply missing in action, rather than having been killed off the way he was, I wouldn't actually miss him all that much; the rest of the cast would still make it work. I think I was angrier at the loss of Quentin for Eliot's sake, rather than just losing Quentin, if that makes sense. So if everyone can unite around the loss and make it meaningful, it might still work. The trailer seems pretty interesting, so I'm going with "cautiously optimistic". Now that Eliot is back, I find I'm still looking forward to it.

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ProudMary
ProudMary

The Best and Worst Television Moments of 2018 as chosen by io9 at Gizmodo.  I could not agree more with one of their choices, which was, to me, the best hour of episodic television on my screen this y

ProudMary
ProudMary

This S4 promo is fabulous.

kieyra
kieyra

This is a strange way of framing it, since BTVS was never really put in that situation. (Buffy didn't stay dead, of course.) Most people's objections (that I have seen) are not about whether one

festivus

festivus

I'm excited. I was upset at the end of last season but I never said I wasn't going to continue to watch. Good to have Eliot back and I'm interested to see where they'll go with Julia. In my mind she should be the one grieving Quentin the most. Childhood friends that didn't have the greatest last few years together. I do want to see how his loss changes the three people that loved him. I also hope Fen gets a good story this season. 

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Glory

Glory

I am cautiously optimistic after the trailer. I think there has been enough time since the end of Season 4 that the shock of Q's death has numbed a bit. 

I'm still over Alice though. They better do something really good with her or just get rid of her, because she pisses me off. I'd much rather have more Kady and Julia than Alice at this point. 

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paramitch

paramitch

After the S4 finale, I was adamant that I would not be returning for S5. So it was really sad to me over the past few weeks to see the promos for S5 and to still just feel my heart turned into a stone in my chest. I feel zero desire to continue watching the show still. I still feel just as angry and just as betrayed by the S4 finale.

Speaking of which, some additional press that I haven't seen linked here yet, that beautifully discuss what was so upsetting about the S4 finale:

'The Magicians' Season 4 Finale is a Master Class in How Not to Treat Queer Characters 
https://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/the-magicians-season-4-finale-is-a-masters-class-in-how-not-to-treat-queer-characters.php 
For me, this one put things absolutely perfectly. It was one of several critical, unhappy articles originally posted on SyFy.com and which the website then pulled after publication.

The Season 4 Finale Changes the Show Forever
(Archived) https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180429/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-magicians-discussion-the-season-4-finale-changes-the-show-forever 
This is the critical and eloquent piece that was originally posted on SyFy, which then removed it within a week.

'Magicians' Fans are Really Upset About What Happened to Quentin 
https://www.pride.com/tv/2019/4/19/magicians-fans-are-really-upset-about-what-happened-quentin

Why Quentin's Death on 'The Magicians' was Wrong 
https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Why-Quentin-Death-Magicians-Wrong-46050057

SyFy's Response to 'The Magicians' Finale is Strange 
https://phenixxgaming.com/2019/05/01/syfys-response-to-the-magicians-finale-is-strange/
This one has a good take in asking what was going on with SyFy's handling of the episode (and subsequent critiques, some of which were on its own website)

Magicians Season 4 Finale Infuriates Fanbase
 https://phenixxgaming.com/2019/04/22/the-magicians-season-4-finale-infuriates-fanbase/

I feel bad for the remaining cast, who I will always love, as they try to put a good face on the promos and S5 interviews, but I'm still too angry at the S4 finale and (almost worse) the producers' behavior and justifications afterward. Gamble and McNamara have been shockingly thoughtless and arrogant without even a pretense of apology to those who felt betrayed for Quentin's suicidal confession or for its "bury your gays" choices yet again.

I was open to reevaluating my feelings (and curious if I would, because this used to be my favorite show, in that way of "I love this show unabashedly, the brilliant episodes and the bad ones..."). But S5 has started and yeah, I'm not watching. 

On 7/24/2019 at 10:34 AM, tennisgurl said:

Am I just still super sensitive about this still, or are the fans who are still pissed about Quentin's death being made fun of here? "How dare you still be missing your white guy, your a sexist racist, your just like this pig guy for giving a crap, rejoice in our wokeness! Our woke pro suicide gay burying selves!" 

Its probably just me still being salty, right? Either way, it was pretty ham handed 😉 

That's exactly how I saw that promo as well. (LOL on "ham handed!") And I'm still super-sensitive too, so the lightness of the S5 promos is just sitting wrong with me.

On 7/24/2019 at 7:21 PM, kieyra said:

I only still check this thread in case they reveal Quentin’s coming back.

I know they aren’t going to. Can’t help hoping.

Meanwhile, I’ve stuck by my guns—no more Netflix rewatches. No recommendations. It wasn’t just “oh, they killed off my favorite character/ship”, it’s that they did it in a harmful and hurtful way, with an audience they must know is vulnerable. 

@kieyra, you are my patronus on this. I feel exactly the same way.

And I'm still furious that they sent poor Hale Appleman out on that big, self-congratulatory, "the lead of our series is a bisexual man in love with Hale's character!" Which got a TON of press, and which leaves a really bad taste in my mouth now, knowing that they already knew they were going to reconnect Q with his safely het (if toxic) romance with Alice... and then kill him without a single exchange of words with Eliot. While implying it was a final successful suicide attempt by Quentin. AGHGHGH.

(Oops. Yeah. Still enraged.)

On 9/23/2019 at 7:59 PM, ParadoxLost said:

I don't like being manipulated.  I don't like these show runners.  This pushed me more on the not going to watch side of the fence.

I have following John McNamara's shows a long time, and used to respect his willingness to be creative and offbeat. But I lost a lot of respect for him and for Sera after the S4 finale, and how they handled the entire thing (both storywise, with Jason Ralph, with Hale Appleman, and with us, the viewers). I still can't believe they didn't allow Jason to tell castmates. Shit, even Jon Snow got a going-away cake.

On 11/15/2019 at 8:31 AM, beeemkcl said:

This is an excellent series, but even Buffy the Vampire Slayer could 'go on' without Buffy Anne Summers.

Quentin Coldwater was largely important because of his apparently unique (the true meaning of "one and only") connection to Fillory. Of secondary importance is that he connected Eliot Waugh and Margo Hanson and Alice Quinn and Julia Wicker.

I don't agree with any of this. "Buffy" as a show never had to go on without her, nor do I think it would have been able to do so.

To me, Quentin was important, to put it bluntly, because he was the main character (books and show). He was the one whose journey had to take him from innocence and privilege to humility, and he was the lynchpin of the group as the one true believer in Fillory. It was never about Q being the 'best magician' (which was always Alice).

I don't understand the rest of your post, since I don't think either Alice, Julia, or Quentin are remotely evil. They're simply young characters who have sometimes made bad decisions in impossible supernatural situations.

On 11/20/2019 at 12:02 PM, kieyra said:

This is a strange way of framing it, since BTVS was never really put in that situation. (Buffy didn't stay dead, of course.)

Most people's objections (that I have seen) are not about whether one can OMGWTF kill off a main character and get away with it, nor are they about Quentin's relative value or evilness compared to other characters. It was the setup and context ... the pointless death, the way it smacked of suicide, and the casual cruelty of not even letting Quentin and Eliot speak one last time.

There are right ways to do this kind of thing ... and then there are ways that make people swear off your show and stop telling other people how great it is. 

This.

On 12/2/2019 at 2:15 PM, tennisgurl said:

Its so sad, there was a time when I would have been ecstatic to see this trailer and get a premier date for one of my favorite shows, but now...it just makes me sad knowing that a show I once loved has fallen victim, like so many TV/movies lately, to "angst angst angst omg we is so dark and edgy we can give you a haircut" syndrome. Not even having Elliot back at last makes me interested in seeing this. 

Me too. I actually cringed at that pig-man trailer thing. Just... wow. 

On 12/3/2019 at 6:18 AM, festivus said:

I'm excited. I was upset at the end of last season but I never said I wasn't going to continue to watch. Good to have Eliot back and I'm interested to see where they'll go with Julia. In my mind she should be the one grieving Quentin the most. Childhood friends that didn't have the greatest last few years together. I do want to see how his loss changes the three people that loved him. I also hope Fen gets a good story this season. 

It's interesting because one of the other things I was most furious about after the season finale (after the slap in the face to people with depression, or to the LGBT community) was that we didn't get a Quentin/Julia moment either. Just Alice, Alice, Alice. 

Anyway... I'll be checking in with the forum occasionally to see what you guys think of the season -- especially if any of you ever feel it redeems the show. If it does, I'll give it a chance. But right now, I have no plans to return.

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Hanahope

Hanahope

On 1/10/2020 at 1:14 PM, paramitch said:

(Oops. Yeah. Still enraged.)

Totally agree with your entire post.  I have not yet decided whether I will watch or not.  I have limited time these days, so this show is clearly at the bottom of my watch list.  If I do watch, it'll be sometime after anyone gets 'credit' for it.  

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Yeah guys, I just dont know. I think that I thought I had more or less moved into the acceptance phase of my grief/rage and that I could still keep watching for the sake of the characters that I still love, and maybe some perverse curiosity as to where the show could go from here, but watching the trailers for the new season and re-reading some of the interviews with the show runners again (because I hate myself apparently) just makes me dread the idea of watching those two smug assholes continue to run a show. I forgot how much they made light of everything that happened with Quentin, and how they thought that writing a show post-Q was "strangely fun" and their insanely smug and condescending "sometimes we dont get closure when people die, its unrealistic for people to get to talk to people they love before they die" answers on why they never let Quentin and Elliot get one single freaking conversation in before he died. Because I guess this show is a documentary now and not a fucking fantasy story with talking bears and dick mountains and shit. Thats not even getting into them endlessly soaking up the praise they got for seeming to make Q/E cannon, all the while knowing that it would never really happen and using fans as a cheap marketing ploy, but I digress. 

Maybe it all still hurts because when I watched The Seam, I was personally in a bad mental health place, so I took the whole "if your depressed and suicidal, killing yourself is actually awesome and the best thing you can do for your loved ones" message rather personally. Maybe its because I thought that, for once, my ship would actually get to sail into the sunset, before it was violently torpedoed by the same writers who championed it in the first place. Maybe because this will now forever be associated with a long string of shows that I loved all suddenly killing off major characters in needlessly cruel and pointless ways to show how "edgy" and "unpredictable" their show was, all right in a row. I will probably end up watching, or at least checking in here to see what is going on, but...I just dont know. 

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RachelKM

RachelKM

(edited)
1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I forgot how much they made light of everything that happened with Quentin, and how they thought that writing a show post-Q was "strangely fun" and their insanely smug and condescending "sometimes we dont get closure when people die, its unrealistic for people to get to talk to people they love before they die" answers on why they never let Quentin and Elliot get one single freaking conversation in before he died.

Yeah, that was bullshit.  I might accept it if they played all the emotional beats from something like that.  But it was the last episode and we saw hardly any reactions other than the Take On Me scene.  Even dealing with it in this season would feel tacked on due to the time passed for the audience.  Not to mention, if that was really what they were going for, WTAF did they intend with the Qualice heel-turn?  

I'm gonna watch.  I'll watch because I still love the characters, even if I'm pissed at the writing.* But I'm going in with a lot of residual upset and far less trust than any prior season.

 

*In addition to the Queliot issues, I'm still pissed off that they nullified Julia's agency by de-goddessing her while she was unconscious and then killed her best friend

Edited by RachelKM
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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

So I guess I have under two hours to get off the fence at this point.

All the trailers have me about split down the middle on whether I want to watch or not.

Even putting aside Quentin's death, season 4 was a slog to get through.  Quentin's death made me think that it was going to be nearly impossible to get back to the quality of season 2/3.  But there are enough glimpses of moments that seem like they are tonally similar to the better seasons that want me to at least give the first episode a shot to see what its like.

But, some of the trailers are making me really irritated.  Some of the dumb behind the scenes stuff is giving me flashbacks to the cast doing tonally f'd up promos for this season after The Seam because the weren't given the courtesy of being told that Quentin had really been killed off.  And there are way to many themes in those trailers that are lifted out of Gamble's post finale press tour and social media BS.

The thing keeping me on the fence are the show runners.  Their interviews after the end of last seasons make me want to "punish" them by not watching.  And knowing they were going to kill Quentin at the end of the season frankly made a bad season almost criminal.

I don't know.  I guess I'll probably watch.  Mainly because of the forums.

But I'm seriously thinking about setting up a series of baby yoda memes on my laptop to cute my way out of losing my shit.  

 

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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

(edited)

So, I have a conspiracy theory knocking around in my brain....

I read an article the other day that SyFy (even when it was SciFi) has never had a scripted series that wasn't cancelled at the end of the fifth season on the network or before.  The exception of Stargate SG-1, not being an exception, because the first 5 out of 10 seasons where on Showtime.  I tried to think of one that went six seasons of SyFy/SciFi and couldn't come up with one.

There was something around how Being Human US ended (or the PR related to it) that stuck in my head and made me think that SyFy hates their reputation for cancelling shows in supremely asshole ways (see SG1 and Eureka to name two most egregious examples of network exec behaviors) .  Not enough to keep shows around, but enough to ensure that fandom doesn't revolt when they go (because they were formed in stew of the Farscape fandom embarrassing them, with TV ads, etc., and getting a TV movie out of it). 

Sera Gamble just signed a deal with Universal Content Productions (division of NBCUniversal, which also owns SyFy).

Season 4 demo averaged 0.19 and viewers 0.541 million.  Season 5, Episode 2... 0.09 in the demo and 0.355 mil viewers. https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-magicians-season-five-ratings/

I think they killed off Quentin to have a reason to cancel it without backlash this season. And Gamble went along with it for goodwill for her deal with UCP.  Then she used "woke" language in her post finale reasoning which went over terribly because it was nonsensical and BS.

I don't think they figured that they would lose half the demo and 35% of the viewers by the second episode of the season. They probably thought it would bleed viewers but this is a bloodletting.

With these ratings, the Magicians isn't going to be the show that breaks the trend and gets a sixth season.

PS.  I have a long standing paranoia about SyFy and what they do to TV shows I watch.  At some point I need to follow through with my declaration of ....never again.

Edited by ParadoxLost
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JTMacc99

JTMacc99

12 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

PS.  I have a long standing paranoia about SyFy and what they do to TV shows I watch.  At some point I need to follow through with my declaration of ....never again.

They killed Warehouse 13 after five seasons!! That was a wonderful show with excellent ratings. 

It's what they do, and I imagine that's what they have in mind for this show as well. 

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festivus

festivus

It's unfortunate because SyFy puts out the kind of shows I like to watch but after them cancelling Dark Matter on several cliffhangers, I just won't be able to watch anything on there anymore until it's finished its run and I know it ended well. By well I mean without any egregious cliffhangers. I'm okay with an ending that kind of wraps things up but in a way that you can imagine the world continuing on.

I do think this will be the last season for The Magicians. I just hope that it was already known and it ends well. I want to proclaim it as my favorite show but I can't do that till I see how it ends.

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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

10 minutes ago, festivus said:

It's unfortunate because SyFy puts out the kind of shows I like to watch but after them cancelling Dark Matter on several cliffhangers, I just won't be able to watch anything on there anymore until it's finished its run and I know it ended well. By well I mean without any egregious cliffhangers. I'm okay with an ending that kind of wraps things up but in a way that you can imagine the world continuing on.

Since they wrapped the season 5 filming in November, I hope they had some inside dirt that season 6 wouldn't happen and planned for a series finale.

The way the ratings are looking for the first two episodes, odds on getting another look pretty bad especially with SyFy's track record.

Since filming is done, they can't really pull a Quentin out of their hat in time to have a chance at saving the season unless it was planned all along and happens ASAP.  And I'm of a mind that this rating drop isn't a quality issue, its an issue that those that sampled the season premiere decided they couldn't get over how the season 4 finale and media gaffes went down. 

And I'm not sure that Quentin even coming back would get their ratings back anyway.  The rating last week were shockingly bad.  Bad in a way that I don't think is recoverable.

 

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ketose

ketose

Five seasons is a magic number for a couple of reasons. The WB did the same thing (except for 7th Heaven, which has no chance of syndication ever again).

First, season 5 means about 110 episodes, which is enough for weekday "syndication" and it still feels like enough for the average streamer. The other reason is that actor contracts are negotiated for 5 years when the show is greenlit. After year five, the actors can ask for a lot more money if the show is a hit. Limiting a series to 5 seasons eliminates costly contract renewals.

With a network like Syfy, increasing the cost per episode in season 6 or above probably doesn't add up because the ratings won't go up by the same percentage.

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The Companion

The Companion

On 1/27/2020 at 9:05 PM, ParadoxLost said:

So, I have a conspiracy theory knocking around in my brain....

I read an article the other day that SyFy (even when it was SciFi) has never had a scripted series that wasn't cancelled at the end of the fifth season on the network or before.  The exception of Stargate SG-1, not being an exception, because the first 5 out of 10 seasons where on Showtime.  I tried to think of one that went six seasons of SyFy/SciFi and couldn't come up with one.

There was something around how Being Human US ended (or the PR related to it) that stuck in my head and made me think that SyFy hates their reputation for cancelling shows in supremely asshole ways (see SG1 and Eureka to name two most egregious examples of network exec behaviors) .  Not enough to keep shows around, but enough to ensure that fandom doesn't revolt when they go (because they were formed in stew of the Farscape fandom embarrassing them, with TV ads, etc., and getting a TV movie out of it). 

Sera Gamble just signed a deal with Universal Content Productions (division of NBCUniversal, which also owns SyFy).

Season 4 demo averaged 0.19 and viewers 0.541 million.  Season 5, Episode 2... 0.09 in the demo and 0.355 mil viewers. https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-magicians-season-five-ratings/

I think they killed off Quentin to have a reason to cancel it without backlash this season. And Gamble went along with it for goodwill for her deal with UCP.  Then she used "woke" language in her post finale reasoning which went over terribly because it was nonsensical and BS.

I don't think they figured that they would lose half the demo and 35% of the viewers by the second episode of the season. They probably thought it would bleed viewers but this is a bloodletting.

With these ratings, the Magicians isn't going to be the show that breaks the trend and gets a sixth season.

PS.  I have a long standing paranoia about SyFy and what they do to TV shows I watch.  At some point I need to follow through with my declaration of ....never again.

It's almost as if unapologetically killing off one of your main characters might upset your loyal fan base. Who knew? 

Honestly, if they are going to kill it I wish they would just do what the did with Killjoys. Decide it up front and tie it up. It sucks way less than having a show end with a tacked on ending. 

On 1/28/2020 at 11:30 AM, ParadoxLost said:

Since they wrapped the season 5 filming in November, I hope they had some inside dirt that season 6 wouldn't happen and planned for a series finale.

The way the ratings are looking for the first two episodes, odds on getting another look pretty bad especially with SyFy's track record.

Since filming is done, they can't really pull a Quentin out of their hat in time to have a chance at saving the season unless it was planned all along and happens ASAP.  And I'm of a mind that this rating drop isn't a quality issue, its an issue that those that sampled the season premiere decided they couldn't get over how the season 4 finale and media gaffes went down. 

And I'm not sure that Quentin even coming back would get their ratings back anyway.  The rating last week were shockingly bad.  Bad in a way that I don't think is recoverable.

 

Agreed. They boxed themselves in by saying Jason Ralph will not return this season (I notice that a lot of articles say this season and not ever, so I am wondering if they have scrambled to soften that message from the original "it was the natural end of the character's story"). Could they at least beg him to come back to re-write the ending of the season as a series finale to at least get some revenue/syndication/netflix numbers? Maybe. But they would have to get some additional filming in if they didn't plan on that initially.  

I don't know if there is a way to right this ship or to tie up the story in a way that doesn't leave the fans angry and bitter. 

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festivus

festivus

I'm not surprised but I'm sad about it.

Quote from article:

Quote

While they did not go into Season 5 knowing that it would definitely will be the show’s final chapter, I hear they wrote the Season 5 finale so it could also work as a series finale.

I really hope that's true.

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JTMacc99

JTMacc99

4 hours ago, festivus said:

I'm not surprised but I'm sad about it.

Quote from article:

Quote

While they did not go into Season 5 knowing that it would definitely will be the show’s final chapter, I hear they wrote the Season 5 finale so it could also work as a series finale.

I really hope that's true.

If you have a show on SyFy, you should really do this. They have a history.

They cancelled freaking Warehouse 13 after season five, and that show IIRC was still pulling really good ratings for them.  

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Darian

Darian

SyFy murdered Being Human and I am not over it. Gave them such a low budget they had to cut fight scenes choppily, guest actors were sleeping on cast and crew members' couches. I swore I would never watch another SyFy show. And then I saw a trailer with Rick Worthy. Glad I came for the ride, but sorry it's been bumpy because the showrunners took "kill your darlings" too damn far. (I know that's not really what it means, but I am still bitter). Sympathy to anyone sad that it's ending, and I will miss the characters. I love every actor on this thing, and hope they all have the bright, bright futures they deserve. 

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mammaM

mammaM

16 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

If you have a show on SyFy, you should really do this. They have a history.

They cancelled freaking Warehouse 13 after season five, and that show IIRC was still pulling really good ratings for them.  

Same with Eureka.

We should know better than to trust anyone that changes Scifi to SyFy

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iMonrey

iMonrey

I'll never be convinced that killing off Quentin wasn't the biggest mistake this show could have made. Maybe the show would have ended after this season anyway, given SyFy's history, but the drop in ratings between Season 4 and Season 5 is huge. And the attitude I still perceive from Gamble and McNamara about their decision still infuriates me.

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Featherhat

Featherhat

2 hours ago, The Companion said:

A discussion of the final episodes. Spoiler warning. Also infuriating warning, with regard to the discussion relating to Quentin's death. Though I may still be a bit salty. 

https://www.tvinsider.com/919354/the-magicians-ending-season-5-reason-response/

Quentin wasn't even my favourite character and I'm still a little salty. "Oh well fandom is gonna shit themselves, yeah yeah, we don't care!" At least they were honest. Though a lot of patting themselves on the back with things I don't really agree with as well. 

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The Companion

The Companion

1 hour ago, Featherhat said:

Quentin wasn't even my favourite character and I'm still a little salty. "Oh well fandom is gonna shit themselves, yeah yeah, we don't care!" At least they were honest. Though a lot of patting themselves on the back with things I don't really agree with as well. 

The sheer audacity to talk about the audience contract when they have been accused of violating/breaching that contract. 

Quote

Gamble: Absolutely. And I'm gratified that so many people that like the show have trusted the contract we have with the audience because we will always do our best to tell the deepest, most personal, most honest story that we can.

See for example: https://phenixxgaming.com/2019/05/01/syfys-response-to-the-magicians-finale-is-strange/

 

I agree. They continue to present as flippant and smug.

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ParadoxLost

ParadoxLost

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'll never be convinced that killing off Quentin wasn't the biggest mistake this show could have made. Maybe the show would have ended after this season anyway, given SyFy's history, but the drop in ratings between Season 4 and Season 5 is huge. And the attitude I still perceive from Gamble and McNamara about their decision still infuriates me.

I still think that they new season 5 would be the last when they decided to kill off Quentin.  And that they did it to cut cost for season 5 and to cut backlash on it getting axed at the end of season 5.  And Gamble got a development deal out of it.

They admit this decision was made before they wrapped up writing the final two episodes, at least.  This wasn't ratings.

1 hour ago, The Companion said:

I agree. They continue to present as flippant and smug.

No kidding.  Its kind of impressive in a way to be that smug when 40% viewers bailed out on the season.

I also noticed that the show runners knew the show was cancelled as they were writing at least the last two episodes and didn't tell the cast and crew.  Maybe that isn't totally abnormal for the industry (or showrunners beholden to SyFy) but I'm a little salty about it because of how they handled telling the cast about Quentin's death.

 

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The Companion

The Companion

26 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I still think that they new season 5 would be the last when they decided to kill off Quentin.  And that they did it to cut cost for season 5 and to cut backlash on it getting axed at the end of season 5.  And Gamble got a development deal out of it.

They admit this decision was made before they wrapped up writing the final two episodes, at least.  This wasn't ratings.

No kidding.  Its kind of impressive in a way to be that smug when 40% viewers bailed out on the season.

I also noticed that the show runners knew the show was cancelled as they were writing at least the last two episodes and didn't tell the cast and crew.  Maybe that isn't totally abnormal for the industry (or showrunners beholden to SyFy) but I'm a little salty about it because of how they handled telling the cast about Quentin's death.

 

Agreed. I am still horrified on their behalf. 

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mammaM

mammaM

7 hours ago, The Companion said:

A discussion of the final episodes. Spoiler warning. Also infuriating warning, with regard to the discussion relating to Quentin's death. Though I may still be a bit salty. 

https://www.tvinsider.com/919354/the-magicians-ending-season-5-reason-response/

Grrrr, infuriating is right. When Gamble was talking about fan reactions I wanted to reach into my tablet and throttle her. I may still have issues about season 4 finale;)

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Grrr reading that just makes me feel like putting off watching this season was a good idea for me. I will probably get around to it soon, especially now knowing that the show will end, but listening to the show runners smug away about the contract between the audience and writers (after that massive fuck you they gave so many fans) and the continuous glossing over of fans hurt and anger with a "fans, what can you do emotional reactions mean its good!" and constant patting of their own backs just pisses me off, and really just makes me sad. I did really love this show, and I do feel invested in it even though I haven't been able to watch (every time I try to watch an episode, I just get too sad to turn it on) and I love the actors, I just really wish it had made different choices. I cant say that killing off Quentin, especially in the way they did, led to the cancellation of the show...but I wont say that it helped.

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The Companion

The Companion

14 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Grrr reading that just makes me feel like putting off watching this season was a good idea for me. I will probably get around to it soon, especially now knowing that the show will end, but listening to the show runners smug away about the contract between the audience and writers (after that massive fuck you they gave so many fans) and the continuous glossing over of fans hurt and anger with a "fans, what can you do emotional reactions mean its good!" and constant patting of their own backs just pisses me off, and really just makes me sad. I did really love this show, and I do feel invested in it even though I haven't been able to watch (every time I try to watch an episode, I just get too sad to turn it on) and I love the actors, I just really wish it had made different choices. I cant say that killing off Quentin, especially in the way they did, led to the cancellation of the show...but I wont say that it helped.

It is still hard for me to watch. I hate that they soured me on a show I loved so much.

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MissL

MissL

On 4/4/2020 at 11:49 AM, festivus said:

Article from Collider. Spoilers for the finale. One thing that was stated was that Jason Ralph asked to leave which I haven't seen them outright state before. Puts a different spin on things.

That IS the first time I’ve heard it stated that Jason asked to leave and I find it deeply suspicious. I read a ton of articles after season 4 finales and you’d think with the backlash they would have made that point to save themselves.

So I just found out in this thread the show was cancelled. Can’t say I’m surprised or disappointed. I couldn’t make it through the first episode of season 5 and even in my extreme quarantine boredom I can’t make myself try again. I can’t view it as the show I fell in love with after the storytelling mess they created. I look forward to seeking the actors in other things! 

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The Companion

The Companion

On 4/12/2020 at 2:57 PM, MissL said:

That IS the first time I’ve heard it stated that Jason asked to leave and I find it deeply suspicious. I read a ton of articles after season 4 finales and you’d think with the backlash they would have made that point to save themselves.

So I just found out in this thread the show was cancelled. Can’t say I’m surprised or disappointed. I couldn’t make it through the first episode of season 5 and even in my extreme quarantine boredom I can’t make myself try again. I can’t view it as the show I fell in love with after the storytelling mess they created. I look forward to seeking the actors in other things! 

It certainly wasn't their story immediately following the finale.

 

Several castmembers did a live virtual experience today for Wizard World. It was delightful.

https://m.twitch.tv/videos/595819004

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